I I sat at the computer, trying to get some of the paperwork done that I wasn't able to get done at the office. Chi sat on the couch flipping from channel to channel after discovering the remote to the t.v. She seemed completely captivated by it as my fingers tapped away on the keyboard. I took my eyes off her once again and concentraited on the screen in front of me. It was the least I could do to keep from falling behind on my work. Then Chi suddenly pushed her way between me and the computer, taking a seat in my lap. I looked down at the back of her head. At the few loose locks of hair that fell from her bun, laying against her neck. At the healing cuts and pink scars that peeked above the neckline of the back of her shirt. Something stirred in me. I tore my eyes from the girl in my lap.
"Chi...What are you doing?" I ask, looking back at the computer screen.
"What are you doing?" She asks, completely ignoring my question.
"Paperwork." I say, giving her a single word answer. The scent of her hair fills my nose and my gaze travels back to her where it lingers on her shoulders. Then she tilts her head back to look at me behind her. I quickly avert my gaze.
"Juuzou, why did that man call you Suzuya?" She asks, keeping her eyes locked on me.
"Because Suzuya is my family name." I tell her, leaning back in my chair to put a little bit more space between us.
"Family name?" She repeats.
"Yes, and your's is Shinohara." She looks away from me, fixing her gaze on the screen in front of us. The longer she is close to me, the more rapidly my heart beats. I quickly stand up, causing her to fall on the floor, just as I felt like my chest was about to be ripped open. Running my fingers through my hair, I lean against the wall. What is going on with me? She's just a girl, mentally a child. My eyes wander back over to her, spinning my chair around and around from the floor where she sat. From her face, down to her colar bones. For the first time the roundness of her breasts catch my attention. My focus sneaks lower, over the curves of her waist and hips, then stopping on appley shape of her butt as she pushed herself up onto her feet. I cover my eyes with my hand. What am I doing? My fingers separate, letting me steal one last glace. I need some fresh air. "Chi, it's time for bed." I tell her as I head to my own room, only to stop when I feel her right on my heels. I turn around and face her with my hand on the door knob behind my back.
"Chi sleep with Juuzou." She says trying to look at the door knob behind me.
"No, tonight Chi has to sleep in her own room." I tell her then quickly slip in to my room,close the door behind me. When I see her shadow disappear from under the door, I make a mad dash for the balcony. The cold night air wraps around my body, releaving me from the burning sensations she had left me with.
"Good night, Juuzou." I hear her yell, seeing her shadow disappear from under the door for a second time. I lean against the sliding glass door and slide down it.
"I'm in trouble." I whisper, banging the back of my head against it once. In a way I feel guilty looking at her the way I had. But...At the same time... No, no. What am I thinking? I just need to ignore things like that. I just have to make sure to keep my distance.
The next morning I woke up to my phone ringing. It was the chief. He had called to tell me that I didn't need to come in today. He wanted Chi to have time to adjust to her new home. That wasn't the only surprise I had awoken to. I looked down at her laying against my shoulder with one arm resting against my chest, her hand right over my heart. Keeping my distance is going to be a lot harder than I thought. I lift her wrist up with my index finger and thumb then slip carefully out from under her. As I pull a clean shirt on over my shoulders, I look over in her direction. I feel heat rush to my cheeks when I see her night gown all bunched up around her ribs and her ass exposed. She's wearing those? Those...What did that lady call them? G-string? I cover my eyes, trying not to let my body and mind give into tempations, and toss a blanket over her. After seeing her completely naked and not being phased by it, I go to this. A blushing idiot at the slightest exposure of her skin. I shake my head at the weirdo I had become and take a seat on the couch. Maybe a little t.v will help clear my head. Then I hear my bedroom door open.
"Juuzou." She whines, rubbing her eyes as the thin straps of her gown slide down her shoulders. "It hurts."
Upon hearing that she's in pain, my eyes grow wide and my chest tightens. "Where?" I ask, feeling more worried by the second.
"Here." She says, turning around and lifting her long white hair up. The back of her gown is soaked in blood. My heart skips a beat and I jump to be feet, grabbing the first aid kit. I gently push the other strap down her shoulder and look at her blood stained skin. Some of the infected cuts had swollen up and opened.
I sit back down on the couch and have her lay across my lap. "Be still." I tell her in a low voice. "I have to clean this up and re-bandage it." I hear her hiss a few time while I blot up the blood.
"Juuzou, why did you name Chi, Chi?" She asks, wrapping her fingers around my knee and squeezing as another wave of pain ripples through her.
"Because Chi was covered in blood. Chi means blood." I tell her, as I dab anti-biotic ointment on to her cuts.
"Chi doesn't like Shinohara." She whisperes. "Chi likes Suzuya." I freeze for a moment. Her words catching me off gaurd as taped clean gauze to her skin. "Can Chi be Suzuya?" She asks. I new as well as anyone else that the only way she would be a Suzuya is if we got married. There is no way that that's going to happen.
"No. Chi has to be Shinohara. Shinohara was the name of someone very special to me." I explain. She looks up to me with a smile and wraps her arms around my sholders while resting her head against my chest.
"Juuzou is special to Chi." She says, snuggling into the side of my neck with her nose. Reluctantly, I tilt my head to the side, just enough for my cheek to rest against the top of her head. This is hopeless. I can't avoid her.